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Thus does my time as a regular presence at the mic here come to a close. It's been an amazing month, and I've learned a lot from you guys--I hope you've all gotten something out of my posts here. It...

A couple of commenters indicated interest in hearing my thoughts on the blistering array of publishing options currently fighting it out Pon Farr style in the contemporary world of letters. Before my time here comes to a close, I'll try...

Why would it be similar? Why would it not advance? How we had children in the 50s (twilight state) and now are not the same. C-sections are becoming more common for economic and weird social reasons, not because more women...

Yeah, I think it also depends on the time of day and where in both cities you're headed. Most of my Tokyo trips were an hour and a half, counting transfer time, waits, and walking. Also, in Yokosuka at least,...

In a cosmic, holistic, importance of continuing the species and centrality of most people's lives sense, including in "most" those who have them, are related to them, and whose livelihoods depend on more humans being made....

Yeah, I know. I'm a Classics major too. I paused with my fingers over the keys. But an argument can be made that in English, they do. Most English translations begin with speak and sing. It is our more natural...

Also, the whole point was that the public sector has super high tech in Japan. So garbage disposals and dryers, not actually very high tech, should be common if there's any kind of equality in the distribution in invention or...

See my note in another comment about the climate of Japan. I've hung clothes out too and I'm aware there is not only a cultural difference in whether or not that's common but a philosophical one, too. However, neither where...

You'll note that you live alone. And are probably a reasonably neat person given that 30 minutes. Most people do not live alone. They live with elderly parents, a partner, children, roommates, siblings, whathaveyou. The work balloons, believe me, and...

Yes, you're sight. The sub is controlling things--what they read, when, how much, how long. They negotiated when they read the back of the book, hemmed and hawed, and then bought it. And if they don't want anymore, in the...

Yeah, in Spain I can see it. In Japan, where even (especially) in summer the prospect of a typhoon and torrential downpour is not just likely but guaranteed, and the humidity is so high that mold springs up nearly instantly,...

Of course not. Henry Miller didn't write his first book til he was 40. In fact, you've lived more, you have more experience to bring, so maybe you have more to write about. Maybe not--I don't know you. But maybe....

You know that wonderfully, wryly apt Gibson line: "The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed"? I came across this article a few days ago, detailing several self-cleaning fabric technologies, some chemical, some using nanotech. Some safer than others....

This will conclude my series of writing advice here--but I'll still be posting for another ten days or so, have no fear. (Or have fear, if you haven't dug this.) I'll be at Boskone this weekend if anyone wants to...

Keith-- I think that nobody is instinctively perfect. Being a good writer doesn't mean you never fall into cultural traps or throw up a cliche every once in awhile. You have to think and talk about this stuff in order...

1. I don't think there's as much pressure to twist the ending as all that. I think people get very proud of themselves for doing so, but it's not a requirement and really much more common to SF film, I...

Charlie and (and John)-- Yeah, I think that's on the mark. You can ignore them, but ignoring is not the same as not knowing in the first place. Ignoring can be done with style and flair. Ignorance can't....

Er, it jives with subverting cliche. If I had known this series was going to get so involved when I started it, I would have put point 8. after the cliche one, to make the connection that though you should...

Hm. I guess because I think the party bus is awesome, it didn't seem that way to me when I wrote it? Like, I'd always rather be the one partying than the DD. I don't think anything in writing, really,...

I feel like the last two days should be one of the points about writing I've been making--you can't do everything all at once all the time. Being still sick while trying to turn around a copyedit on a dime...

Continuing my series of thoughts on writing and the peculiar soup of skills and perspectives that go into it, I present to you points 3-5. These are not in any particular order, one is not more important than the other....

Comment Threads

Apart from high end toilets, have the Japanese got anything that makes home living easier/better than anywhere else? Insulated electric water dispensers. Because Japanese domestic appliances run on 100 volts and relatively low current, a kettle would take a long time to boil. So instead of the UK-style electric jug kettle with charger base (which in turn is w-a-y better than the typical primitive electric kettle found in the US) the Japanese use heavily insulated pots with a pump-action dispenser nozzle. You fill it up, it takes 15 minutes to come to the boil, then it stays hot indefinitely with...

Here's an appliance improvement I'd like. I'm a short woman with a top-loading washing machine. It would be delightful to have a floor in the washing compartment that would lift when I pressed a button. Sounds complicated and likely to break. Wouldn't a front-loading washing machine work for you? (We've only had those for around fifty years ...)...

Since it seemed like a bunch of people were confused by garbage disposals, I thought I'd give explaining them a go. The garbage disposal is meant to make cleaning the sink easier after rinsing dishes or cooking. It's not (usually) for disposing of bulk items. Basically, the idea is that with a basic sink, you typically rinse any food scraps / coffee grounds / etc. off of plates etc. and into the drain strainer. Then you have to dump it out into your compost bin or trash, often a few times. With a garbage disposal, you do the same thing,...

I think my mother's current twin-tub (the third in forty-odd years) only dates back to the 1990s. It has a "by appointment to HM the Queen Mother" label, but that probably relates to the brand in general rather than that specific model. Unfortunately the spinning part stopped working some years back and she hasn't been able to find a replacement, so she's been using a stand-alone spin-dryer in tandem with the still-functional washing side....